Flight Support - Turbulence Forecast

Turbulence forecasts do not mean there will be turbulence, but only that turbulence is possible in the designated areas. All the planes cruising in an area are on the same radio frequency. Pilots hear reports of turbulence from other pilots. If the turbulence is on their route, pilots ask for a change of altitude. Sometimes the smooth altitudes are already being used by other planes. Sometimes there are no smooth altitudes. Yes, pilots change altitude only for passenger comfort, not for safety reasons. On a cargo flight, they wouldn’t bother to change.

India & Middle East

Aviation Weather

Provides information about position and height of storms. The line associated with the storm indicates the direction the storm is moving and the speed of movment (each long "tick mark" is 10 miles per hour; each short "tick mark" is 5 miles per hour: add up the tick marks to get the total speed of movement).

Important note:

The colors on these charts indicate the probability, not the intensity, of turbulence.

Turbulence: The facts

Turbulence is not a problem for:- the plane nor for the pilots.-safety, nor does it signal a safety problem.

Turbulence is:

-a natural phenomenon in which every plane is built to fly.

Turbulence in flight

Turbulence cannot cause a plane to fall. Air that is moving up and down causes up and down movement as the plane flies through. Up and down movement is limited, usually to an inch or less, The small amount of movement up and down is magnified by the speed of the plane, by awareness that the plane is high up, and by fear of falling. Pilots, because they know the facts and because they have complete control, simply cannot understand why passengers have any concern at all about turbulence.

Fear of flying & Turbulence

Turbulence is a problem for the passenger whose strategy it is to keep flying out of mind. The anxiety-prone person seeks relief through control of situations and physical escape in case control fails. Flying allows neither. Thus the anxious flier tries to escape psychologically by keeping the flight out of awareness and keeping the mind occupied. This strategy fails during takeoff when acceleration intrudes into awareness and during turbulence when up and down movements intrude into awareness. Takeoff is brief, and over with. Turbulence, potentially, could continue and get worse. Even when there is not, there is anticipatory anxiety that it will develop. This strategy cannot bring relief to the fear of flying. The SOAR Fear of Flying Course can bring relief. It does so by increasing emotional strength and by training the mind to not react to turbulence.